70 BOOK OF OLD-FASHIONED FLOWERS 



thrives best in the milder parts. The scarlet drops 

 hanging from a tall bush of this plant — and it sometimes 

 reaches a height of five or six feet, or even more — are 

 very attractive, and one can but admire the taste of the 

 humming birds which in its native home the Fuchsia 

 seeks to attract. 



Except near the sea and in certain warm situations, 

 Fuchsias can hardly be regarded as thoroughly hardy 

 plants ; but, wherever they will succeed, they should 

 certainly be grown, for they are amongst the most 

 beautiful ornaments of the garden in late summer and 

 autumn. Perhaps the hardiest of all is F. Riccartoni, 

 with bright red flowers, but the old F. globosa is almost 

 its equal in vigour. 



F. macrostema gracilis is of taller and, as its name 

 implies, of more slender habit than the other hardy 

 kinds. It has the further advantage of producing its 

 pretty scarlet and purple drops somewhat later in the 

 autumn. A Fuchsia bush rarely looks shabby on account 

 of dead and dying flowers, for, when their work is done, 

 the petals usually fall before they have begun to wither, 



I am sure that gardeners who study the native flora 

 of England derive much more pleasure from their 

 flowers than those who focus all their attention on 

 the cultivated species and hybrids which are grown in 

 gardens. The hedges and woodlands are full of ex- 

 amples and full of suggestions, for they show us the 

 habit and manner of life of the English relatives of our 

 exotic plants. By studying the wild species with their 

 wonderful grace and simple beauty, indicative of adapta- 

 tion of means to ends, we are less liable to become the 

 slaves of the florists. 



The hedges, or rather the wayside patches at the 

 hedgerow's base, are very beautiful just at this season, 

 with the yellow flowers of two of the Cinquefoils, the 

 silky fern-like-leaved Potentilla Anserina (Silver weed) 



